Stephen D. CannerelliSyracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler talks about how his department has made 1,000 warrant arrests. He is joined by Joe Ciciarelli of the US Marshals Office, left, and Syracuse Sgt. John Savage.

Syracuse, NY -- The city of Syracuse is ending the year with nearly 1,000 fewer outstanding warrants than a year ago, police said.

In addition, the police warrant squad made more than twice the number of warrant arrests this year than in 2009, said Sgt. John Savage. The squad made 1,985 arrests this year, including four special details, compared to 956 last year. That doesn't include hundreds of warrants cleared by other officers patrolling the city.

Despite the successes, the city remains with more than 5,000 open warrants, Savage said. It started the year with more than 6,000.

Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler praised the warrant squad, but said there's still work to be done until all the warrants are cleared.

"We're a little short of my goal of 6,000," he said with a smile. The chief credited cooperation between the city police, state troopers, Onondaga County Sheriff's Office and US Marshals Service.

An average of 100 new warrants a month are added by the courts, Savage said.

The so-called "Operation Vigilance" not only targeted those with active warrants for serious felonies, but also those with minor warrants coupled with histories of serious crimes, Savage said. For example, a suspect wanted on a misdemeanor petit larceny warrant might have a history of felony burglary arrests.

It's the fourth wave of a yearlong effort to reduce outstanding warrants. It started with a website that made public those with warrants, followed by Operation Safe Surrender in June in which 305 people turned themselves in. Another 307 were caught during Operation Rolling Thunder in August.

Fowler said people should continue checking the department's website, www.syracusepolice.org, to help police clear more warrants. Click on "Active Warrants" in the left menu to access the database.